Strainer and flow-directing apparatus for swimming pool floor drains



Sept. 30, 1969 L. E. JOHNSON 3,469,700

STRAINER AND FLOW-DIRECTING APPARATUS FOR SWIMMING POOL FLOOR DRAINSFiled Aug. 14, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 1 LAWEENCE JO/l/VSO/V 22 rTOE/VE/S'.

Sept. 30, 1969 L. E. JOHNSON 3,469,700

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3111 EUIUJJHHUD INVENTOR. MWEAWCE 5. JOHNSON United States Patent F3,469,700 STRAINER AND FLOW-DEECTING APPARATUS FOR SWIMMING POOL FLOORDRAWS Lawrence E. Johnson, 15847 Imperial Highway, La Mirada, Calif.90638 Filed Aug. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 660,502 Int. Cl. E04h 3/20; B01635/28 US. Cl. 210-438 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A strainer apparatusincluding a strainer element in the shape of an open-top basket, whichbasket is mounted within the mouth of a swimming pool floor drain bymeans of a support lip attached to the top of the basket. A solid,disc-shaped lid is connected to the top of the basket in spaced-apartrelationship relative to the support lip, thus defining an annularentrance channel. The purposes of the lid (and of the annular entrancechannel defined thereby) are to (1) hide the debris caught in thestrainer basket, (2) minimize any chance of losing debris from thebasket when it is lifted out of the pool, and (3) act as a flowdirectingmeans to cause the water entering the drain to pick up any debrisdeposited on the floor of the swimming pool in the region adjacent thedrain. The lid is removably secured to the basket by a screw, the screwincluding a relatively large ring handle which can be easily hooked inorder to raise the strainer for cleaning purposes.

5 Claims BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention Thisinvention relates to strainers and in particular to a strainer screen orgrating for use in the floor drain of a swimming pool.

Description of the prior art Flat, disc-shaped strainers, areconventionally used in swimming pool fioor drains, and have severaldisadvantages associated with their use. For one thing, since suchstrainers have only a limited surface area, frequent cleaning isnecessary to assure free flow through the water circulating system ofthe pool. Further, since the known strainers are readily visible fromthe surface of the pool, the debris deposited thereon forms an eyesorein an environment one of the main purposes of which is to :provide anaesthetically pleasing scene. This eyesore problem is aggravated by thefact that the water on the floor of the pool adjacent the drain is in arelatively stagnant area such that any debris deposited there is likelyto remain. Further, it is difficult to completely clean such previousstrainers by the usual vacuum celaning method. If it were attempted toraise such a strainer to the surface, by means of a long pole forexample, since the strainer is flat much of the deposited debris wouldfall or be washed off in the process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The strainer and flow-directing means of thepresent invention includes a strainer element made in the shape of anopen-top cylindrical basket, the side and bottom walls of which areconstructed as screens or gratings. Connected to the top edge of theside wall of the basket is a flat, ring-shaped, solid support lipprojecting radially outwardly a predetermined distance. The basket is ofsuch a size that it fits completely into the floor drain of the swimmingpool. Since the support lip is larger than the drain opening, thesupport lip maintains the basket at the entrance to the drain. A lid, inthe form of a solid disc provided with a plurality of leg spacers, issecured to the basket in spaced, parallel relationship to the supportlip. The circumference ice of the lid is approximately equal to that ofthe support lip. The lid and the support lip form an annular entrancechannel (of a height determined by the length of the leg spacers) to theinterior of the strainer basket. A central support post extends upwardlyfrom the bottom of the basket and terminates just above the support lip(a distance equal to the length of the leg spacers). A screw, integrallyconnected to a relatively large ring handle, extends through a centralhole in the lid and screws into an internally threaded portion of saidpost. The ring handle is easily visible from the surface of the pool andcan be hooked in order to remove the basket for cleaning purposes.

It is thus an object of this invention to provide a swimming pool floordrain strainer which can be easily, quickly and simply brought to thesurface of the pool, which can be brought to the surface without losinganyof the collected debris (the lid prevents any loss), which has anaesthetically pleasing appearance especially since, when mounted inposition, it hides the debris caught by the filter element, whichprovides an enlarged filtering area whereby the cleaning of the strainerelement does not have to be done as often, and which is designed as aflow-directing means to cause the water entering the floor drain to movealong the floor of the swimming pool and pick up any debris depositedthereon in the region adjacent the drain.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional viewthrough the strainer of the present invention shown installed in aswimming pool floor drain;

FIGURE 2. is a perspective view showing the assembled strainer;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the three components ofthe strainer;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 2, and showingthe bottom of the strainer basket; and

FIGURE 5 is a vertical cross-sectional View taken on line 55 of FIGURE 4showing the construction of the strainer basket of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the figures, thestrainer apparatus and flowdirecting means 2 of the present invention ismade in three parts, a strainer basket 4, a flow-directing lid 6 and ascrew 8 for removably connecting the lid 6 to the basket 4. The strainer2 is constructed so as to be mounted within the opening of a drain 12 inthe floor 10 of a swimming pool, as shown in FIGURE 1.

The strainer basket 4 comprises a cylindrical side wall 14, a bottomwall 16, a support lip 18 connected to the top edge of the side wall 14,and an axial support post 20. The post 20 is internally threaded at itsupper end 22 in order to receive the screw 8.

As FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate, both the side wall 14 and the bottom wall16 have evenly spaced, perpendicular rows of substantially identical,square openings 23. The mesh size of the strainer walls 14 and 16 isapproximately three openings per linear inch with a percentage open areaof about sixty percent. Other suitable screens, gratings and openingpatterns having other mesh sizes and percentages of open area can beemployed in place of the one illustrated and described herein.

The flow-directing lid 6 comprises a solid (imperforate), disc-shapedsection 24 having a central opening 25 to accommodate the screw 8, andan outer solid ring section 26 which inclines upwardly from the lip 18to provide an annular entrance channel 32 between the lid 6 and the lip18. The walls of channel 32 are thus inwardly convergent, in the mannerof a nozzle. The lid 6 is provided with a plurality of legs 28 havingindent projections 30, which legs provide, along with the post 20, themeans for supporting the lid 6 in parallel, spaced relationship to thelip 18 of the basket 4.

The screw 8 is constructed with a handle in the shape of a relativelylarge ring 34 connected at its outer circumference to a screw shankextending radially therefrom. Such shank has an unthreaded end 36 whichserves as a pilot, and a threaded portion 38 which mates with the postend 22. The screw 8 incorporates the two features of a handle and aconnecting means into a single element.

The strainer 2 of the present invention is assembled (see FIGURE 3) byplacing the lid 6 onto the strainer basket 4, which lid 6 centers itselfby virtue of the indent projections 30, and then inserting the screw 8through the opening 25 in the lid 6 and into the internally threadedupper end of the post 20. The strainer can be easily raised from thefloor of the swimming pool for cleaning purposes by using the ring 34 asa handle, or by means of a hook, since the ring 34 is easily visiblefrom the surface of the pool. The ring 34 projects upwardly from thebottom of the pool and, if desired, the ring can be constructed of aflexible material to prevent any possibility of injury in the event thata swimmer would strike the ring.

The strainer as illustrated is of molded plastic construction. FIGURE 4,for example, shows the use of relatively larger ribs 40 in the bottomwall 16 for purposes of added strength. The two illustrated ribs 49 areperpendicular to each other, and radiate from the post 20. FIGURE showsthe construction of the bottom wall 16 comprising an outer largerring-shaped section 42 having a circular top grooved 44 therein. Thecylindrical side wall 14 of the strainer basket 4 fits into the groove44 and is permanently afi'ixed therein, as by means of a suitablecement. The support lip 18 is also provided with an annular groove 46opening downwardly and into which the top edge of the cylindrical sidewall 14 is seated and permanently cemented or otherwise locked.

The support post 20 can be made solid, if desired. However, in thepreferred embodiment shown in the drawings,

see FIGURES 1 and 4 for example, the post 20 is hollow. The reason forthis construction is that it has been found to be desirable to addweight to the strainer 2 to aid in holding it in position and also tomake the filter more stable when raising and lowering it. For thisreason a lead weight 48 is maintained in the cavity 50 of the post 20.The weight 48 is maintained in the cavity 50 by a plastic disc 52(having an air/water hole therein) cemented in the cavity 50.

The foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as givenby way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope of thisinvention being limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A strainer basket and flow-directing apparatus for mounting in thedrain opening at the bottom of a swimming pool, said drain openinghaving a predetermined relatively large diameter, said apparatuscomprising:

support means having an outer diameter larger than said predetermineddiameter of said drain opening, whereby said support means may seatremovably on the horizontal bottom wall of said swimming pool aroundsaid opening,

a strainer basket having perforated side and bottom walls,

the upper edge of said basket being connected to said support means ininwardly-spaced relationship from the extreme outer regions of saidsupport means whereby said basket may be dis posed in said drain openingin suspended relationship from said support means,

the outer diameter of said basket being somewhat smaller than saiddiameter of said drain opening,

a substantially imperforate and generally disc-shaped flow-directing lidhaving a diameter at least as great as the outer diameter of saidbasket,

means to removably mount said lid over said basket in horizontalrelationship and spaced thereabove whereby to define aradially-outwardly facing annular entrance channel adapted to receivewater and debris flowing horizontally along the pool bottom, throughsaid channel and into said basket,

said entrance channel being sufficiently large to receive objects whichwill not pass through the perforated side and bottom walls of saidbasket, and

means provided above said lid to receive a hook at the end of a polewhereby to permit removal of said basket from said drain opening by aperson standing at the side of the pool.

2. The invention as claimed in claim 1, in which said support meanscomprises an annular lip adapted to seat on said horizontal bottom wallof said swimming pool around said opening, and in which saidflow-directing lid has a diameter greater than that of said openingwhereby it extends radially-outwardly over said support lip andcooperates therewith in providing said radially-outwardly facing annularentrance channel.

3. The invention as claimed in claim 2, in which the peripheral portionof said lid inclines upwardly and radially-outwardly wherebythecross-sectional area of said entrance channel decreases progressively ina radially-inward direction, so that the water flowing through saidchannel increases in velocity as said strainer basket is approached.

4. A strainer basket and flow-directing apparatus for mounting in thedrain opening at the bottom of a swimming pool, said drain openinghaving a predetermined relatively large diameter, said apparatuscomprising:

an annular support lip formed of plastic and having an outer diametersubstantially greater than said predetermined diameter of said drainopening, and having an inner diameter substantially smaller than saidpredetermined diameter of said drain opening,

said lip having an annular groove formed in the underside thereof,

the diameter of said annular groove being only slightly greater than theinner diameter of said support lip,

a generally cylindrical strainer element formed of plastic and having amultiplicity of perforations therein, the upper edge of said cylindricalelement being seated and secured in said annular groove in said supportlip,

a generally disc-shaped bottom wall formed of plastic and having amultiplicity of perforations therein,

the upper portion of said bottom wall adjacent the outer edge thereofbeing formed with an annular groove into which the lower edge of saidcylindrical strainer element is seated and mounted,

an axial support post extending upwardly from the center of said bottomwall,

the upper end of said support post being provided with aninteriorly-threaded opening adapted to receive a fastener element,

a generally disc-shaped imperforate lid formed of plastic and having anouter diameter substantially greater than said diameter of said drainopening,

said lid having formed on the underside thereof a plurality of supportlegs adapted to seat on said support lip at the inner edge thereof,

said legs being sufiiciently long to maintain said lid spaced asubstantial distance above said support lip whereby the peripheralportion of said lid cooperates with said lip in defining aradially-outwardly facing annular entrance channel,

the cross-sectional area of said channel being sufficiently great topermit passage therethrough of debris which is sufiiciently large insize that it will not pass through the perforations in said cylindricalstrainer element or said bottom wall, and

a hook-receiving element provided above the central portion of said lidand having connected thereto a fastener adapted to be threaded into saidinteriorlythreaded opening of said support post,

said fastener being adapted to extend through an opening in the centerof said lid whereby to cooperate with said legs in mounting said lidabove said support lip and above said post.

5. The invention as claimed in claim 4, in which said post is hollow atthe lower portion thereof, and in which a weight is mounted in saidlower portion of said post to maintain the apparatus in dependent stablecondition during passage thereof through the water after a hook isinserted through said hook-receiving element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1915 Smith 4-291 X 6/1954Cotterman 4292 2/1967 Baker 210169 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1875 Great Britain.

US. Cl. X.R.

